That's the date when they say that the IMF warns China's economy will surpass America's in real terms.

The IMF disputes the claim.

(Source: MarketWatch)

Let's just say that I'm suspicious.

There are a number of problems with this projection as the "End of America."

Firstly, in actual dollars the U.S. will still have a substantial advantage in GDP in 2016 according to the IMF.

"An analyst at the IMF said in a statement," reports CNN, that "much hinges on whether economic size is measured by purchasing power parity -- what your money can actually buy on the ground in any given economy, the basis of the famous 'Big Mac' index -- or GDP at market rates -- which is measured by converting the national currency into a common currency (normally the U.S. dollar) and measuring how much is flowing through the economy."

But you can't compare economies by using purchasing power parity. Instead, the correct figure to use is the dollar-to-GDP figure, according to the IMF.

“The IMF considers that GDP in purchase-power-parity (PPP) terms is not the most appropriate measure for comparing the relative size of countries to the global economy, because PPP price levels are influenced by nontraded services, which are more relevant domestically than globally,” said an IMF spokesperson according to the Financial Times.

For example, you can't count rents as equal in China and the U.S., which PPP would most certianly do. You get a lot more with rent here than you do in China in the most simplistic example.

Also, projections about economic growth are notably tricky. A lot of assumptions go into coming up with a PPP or a GDP dollar number that likely won't pan out.

But most importantly people seem to be mesmerized by the sheer size of China, but discount the difficulties in controlling a command economy enjoying as much growth as China has sustained.

As we have written about on this site in the past, there is a tremendous amount of malinvestment in China. Whole cities have been built that stand empty. That kind of investment can't go on forever.

In the general upward slurge of growth a country can paper over a lot of problems. They just can't do it forever.

In fact authorities in China may have started the biggest crackdown on dissent in over ten years.

“Shenzhen officials seeking social stability before they host the Summer Universiade, an international sporting event for university students,” reports the China Reform Monitor “have arrested or evicted more than 80,000 people deemed a threat to security.”

Only 80,000?

Corruption, lack of freedoms, central planners, human rights problems and- oh by the way- being Communists- all present problems to China in becoming the biggest economy in the history of the world, ever!

Reformers, led by Premier Wen Jiabao are in the minority in China; a big minority.

"It is obvious [Wen] is the symbol and the voice of the reforming forces ... The fact that he appears helpless is a very good reflection of China's political reality," said Professor Joseph Cheng Yu-shek. "You have people in the party who might be interested in reforms but they are certainly in the minority and can't do much."

Sure, China's a Kenseyian Disneyland, right now.

But eventually that park closes down.

And America's freedom to innovate then takes over.

Certainly long-term, China has the potential to be the biggest player, but it will be some time before that happens, if it happens at all.

In the meantime, I suggest that we take seriously a rapprochement with Russia, while imposing stiffer restrictions on trade with China, pending serious reforms in her government and economy.

"As a globalist, [Bill] Clinton promotes "multipolarity"  the doctrine that no country (such as the USA) should be allowed to gain decisive advantage over others."

From a 2003 Washington Post article:

"...a statement [Bill] Clinton made in February 2002, in which he told an audience in Australia, 'This is a unique moment in U.S. history, a brief moment in history, when the U.S. has preeminent military, economic and political power. It won't last forever. This is just a period, a few decades this will last.'

Clinton continued...

'In all probability, we won't be the premier political and economic power we are now' in a few decades, he said, pointing to the growth of China's economy and the growing economic strength of the European Union.

Whether the United States maintains its military supremacy, he said, depends in part on how much those other entities invest in their militaries, and Clinton said working cooperatively is essential to U.S. interests.

But he said he did not want to be misunderstood. 'I never advocated that we not have the strongest military in the world...I don't think a single soul has thought I was advocating scaling back our military.'

Dear God please forgive me for hating this #$%#@ in the White House for trying to destroy the greatest country in the world. Please do not let he and his lemming like followers succeed with their agenda!!!

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek"-- BARACK OBAMA _____________________________________________________

From the website of the Communist Party, USA... (prior to the election)

"The Communist Party USA views the 2008 elections as a tremendous opportunity to defeat the policies of the right-wing Republicans and to move our country in a new progressive direction.

The record turnout in the Democratic Presidential primary races shows that millions of voters, including millions of new voters, are using this election to bring about real change. We wholeheartedly agree with them."

A breakthrough electionCongratulations on an extraordinary history making election!

We can think back with pride to decades of hard work toward our strategic goal of a big enough, broad enough and united enough labor and all-peoples movement that could overcome the ultra-right blockage to all progress. That all peoples movement has come to life, it is dynamic and it has the potential to keep growing.

The election of Barack Obama and a strengthened Congress creates new conditions in our country. There is now the possibility to shift gears and move forward. This new day requires us to further develop our tactics in order to continue to deepen and broaden labor and peoples unity.

There are thousands of experiences that we all have had in these momentous days, some large, some small, all of which express the enormity of change in thinking and readiness for involvement that is underway and that steels us for the battles ahead.

The tears of joy we all shared as crowds gathered to watch the election results here and throughout the world dramatize the new moment we are in.

Let me begin with a simple observation: If the last 30 years were an era of reaction, then the coming decade could turn into an era of reform, even radical reform. Six months into the Obama presidency, I would say without hesitation that the landscape, atmosphere, conversation, and agenda have strikingly changed compared to the previous eight years.

In this legislative session, we can envision winning a Medicare-like public option and then going further in the years ahead.

We can visualize passing tough regulatory reforms on the financial industry, which brought the economy to ruin.

We can imagine the troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan while U.S. representatives participate in a regional process that brings peace and stability to the entire region.

In the current political climate, the expansion of union rights becomes a real possibility.

Much the same can be said about winning a second stimulus bill, and we sure need one, given the still-rising rate, and likely long term persistence, of unemployment.

Isnt it possible in the Obama era to create millions of green jobs in manufacturing and other sectors of the economy in tandem with an attack on global warming?

Cant we envision taking new strides in the long journey for racial and gender equality in this new era, marked at its beginning by the election of the first African American to the presidency?

And isnt the overhaul of the criminal justice and prison system  a system steeped in racism  no longer pie-in-the sky, but something that can be done in the foreseeable future?

From the Russian News and Information Agency: July 27, 2006 "'I am determined to expand relations with Russia,' Chavez, known as an outspoken critic of what he calls the United States' unilateralism, told the Russian leader, adding that his determination stemmed from their shared vision of the global order.":http://en.rian.ru/russia/20060727/51913498.html ______________________________________________________________

We are creating a new world, a balanced world. A new world order, a multipolar world, Chavez told reporters during a visit to Communist China, one of many. His new world order includes [RUSSIA], China, Iran,... and a significantly weakened United States, he explained.

From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997: "The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."

"Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."

Not if people like us have anything to do about it. Keep informing friends and relatives about what is happening. Link them to my FR Home page if they want evidence as to how dangerously left and anti-American Obama and his crew are.

This article reminds us of the essential elements of America's greatness. It also reminds us of our duty to rediscover and preserve the foundations laid in 1776 and 1787.

For decades, the foundations of liberty have been eroded and replaced with the same old substitutes from which our forefathers escaped in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court even can do much to help it."- Judge Learned Hand

"If I have learned anything from the reading of history, it is that the man who, in violation of great principles, toils for temporary fame, purchases for himself either total oblivion or eternal infamy, while he who temporarily goes down battling for right principles always deserves, and generally secures, the gratitude of succeeding ages, and will carry with him the sustaining solace of a clean conscience, more precious than all the offices and honors in the gift of man." - Sen. Zacharias Montgomery

After Thomas Jefferson, in his First Inaugural, had enumerated the principles which would guide his Administration in his First Inaugural, he added:

"These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

So-called "progressives" of the 20th and 21st Centuries, in their arrogance, have removed (censored) the Founders' ideas of liberty from America's textbooks, but technology has outstripped their efforts. Every American school child and adult now has potential access to almost every word the Founders' spoke and wrote, and their ideas are being rediscovered and circulated in a manner unheard of even 10 years ago, as if by the hand of Divine Providence. How else can one account for the events of 2010?

Enduring principles, according to the Founders were just that--enduring and "self-evident."

The sacred Rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written as with a sunbeam in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power>"- Alexander Hamilton

"Kings or parliaments could not give the rights essential to happiness, as you confess those invaded by the Stamp Act to be. We claim them from a higher source - from the King of kings, and Lord of all the earth. They are not annexed to us by parchments and seals. They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature. They are born with us, exist with us, and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives. In short, they are founded on the immutable maxims of reason and justice."- John Dickinson (Signer of the Constitution of the U. S., as quoted in "Our Ageless Constitution, p. 286)

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